Apparel holder



March 17, 1953 HARTLEY 2,631,734

APPAREL HOLDER Filed Aug. 16, 1950 Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPAREL HOLDER Arthur M. Hartley, Decatur, Ill.

Application August 16, 1950, Serial No. 179,666

This invention relates to apparel holders, being an improvement on a prior application, Serial No. 76,721, now abandoned, filed February 16, 1949, and without limitation thereto has more particularly to do with one of this type adapted for being removably mounted on a door so as to enable articles of wearing apparel to be conveniently held thereon.

An object of the invention is to simplify and make practical and convenient such a device, having easily and effectively manipulable means for placement of articles of clothing either for temporary convenience or for storage.

A further object is the provision of assembly and adjustable features not heretofore provided in apparel holders of this class, and which present in my invention certain qualities of economy, convenience, strength, and novelty.

Other objects and advantages to be attained will hereinafter more fully appear in the following description and the accompanying drawings which set forth a practical though non-limiting exemplification of my invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation.

Figure 2 is a projected plan view taken on a plane parallel with the inclined portion of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the showing in Figure 1, and,

Figure 4 is a front elevation of Figure 1.

Having reference to the drawings in detail, and referring first to the Figure l, the numeral I designates the suspension plate adapted for engagement over the top of a door, and which, by means of its bearing portion II swingably supports the vertically positioned twin-wire suspension member I2, its bottom end being bent in substantially U-shape so that its elongated twin wires are substantially parallel arranged, while their upper ends are turned inwardly toward each other to engage said bearing portion II as at I2.

The incliningly positioned twin-wire suspension member I3 is also swingably supported by the suspension plate I0, and though it has the same U-shape bottom end form and the same elongated twin wires, substantially parallel arranged, still the upper ends of these wires are turned outwardly from'each other, the opposite of those of the member I2, in order to swingably engage the pair of bearing portions I4 which are spaced apart a certain distance so that when said outwardly turned upper ends of the member [3 are in assembled position (see Figs. 2 and 4), the in- 4 Claims. (Cl. 211-32) wardly facing corners of the'upper ends of said member I3 inwardly impinge the twin-wires of the member I2 in yieldable spring-like engagement as at M to position and firmly hold the member 12 against the plate It. This engagement may be broken, of course, by a relatively strong pull outwardly on the lower end of the member I2, away from the plate it, as for example, in disassembling the device for packing.

Now, referring particularly to Fig. 1, the horizontal connecting rod member I5 serves to position the member 53 with respect to the member I2, connecting the two, and thus enabling garments to be suspended from the member I5. The inner end of the member I5 has formed thereon the loop :6 covered by a suitable insulating sleeve I l to rest against the door and insulate the same from abrasive action of said loop I6. The member I5 is rebent at its outer end as at I5 to form the hook part It, the mouth I9 of which is opened just enough to exert a substantially firm frictional contact when the lower end of the member I3 is removed from or brought into engagement with said hook I8 as the case may be.

The relatively short tube member 20 of yieldable and friction inducing material, such as rubber, plastic, or the like, slidably engages the twin-wires of the member I3, and is provided with a pair of aligned holes 20 extending laterally therethrough and adjacent the upper face thereof and adapted for mounting the frame element 21.

Said frame element 2| is of horseshoe-like form, its open end having right-angularly and downwardly extending parts 22 and 23, which in turn have formed from their lower ends the inwardly extending horizontally arranged portions 24 and 25 respectively, adapted for slidable and frictional engagement in said aligned holes 20' of the tube member 20. The portion 24 is rebent at its inner end to form the rest bar 24 which slidably engages the top surface of the member I3 in order to maintain a suitable position of the frame element 2i as shown especially in the Fig. 1.

It will appear obvious from reference to Fig. 2 that the frame 2! may be made narrower or wider as desired, by simply pressing inwardly or else drawing outwardly the two portions 24 and 25 to accommodate various sizes of headgear placed thereon, as represented by the broken linesZ. The frictional holding action in the tube member 20 enables it to remain in fixed though movable position at any point to which it may be moved along the length of the member I3, and,

likewise, the frame element 20 will remain in any suitable width to which it may be adjusted as described, one width being indicated by the dotted lines X.

It is here noted that upon the release of the lower end of the member 13 from engagement with the hook [B of the member l5, which may be accomplished by raising the outer end of said member 15, the members l3 and 15 may be collapsed against the; member lZ-, thereby effecting a relatively flat and compact group, greatly facili tating its packaging for shipping or storage.

The ipeculiar construction and arrangement of parts of my present invention, not only enables practical production at reasonable cost, but also efiects an article well adapted for the purpose intended, in that it is built and assembled as to provide a maximum of rigidity, strength, and usefulness in actual practise.

Although the structurezas herein described and illustrated in the" accompanying drawings, is a' practical exemplification or the invention, it is not presented as a limitation, as modification and change therein may be made and is even contemplated within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparel holder of the type herein described, comprising incombination a suspension plate, a pair of suspension members swing'ably supported by the suspension plate, means ont'ne suspension plate for releasably holding one of said suspension members against said suspension plate, a connecting'rodmember engaging the pair of suspension members, a yieldable tube member mounted on one of the suspension members; and a supportingfraine member mounted on said tube member.

2. An apparel holder of the type herein described, comprising incombination aformed suspension plate,- a pair of twin-wire suspension members swingably supported by the suspension plate, means on the suspension plate for releasably holding one of said suspension members against said suspension plate, a connecting" rod member having a loop formed at one end and an open hook formed at the other end thereof, and releasably-connecting said pair of suspension members, a relatively short yieldabie tube mam: ber'slidably mounted on one of said suspension members, an adjustable supporting frame meiii ber slidably mounted on the tube member.

3. An apparel holder of the type herein described, comprising in combination a suspension plate of substantially inverted channel formation, a vertically positioned twin-wire suspension member swing'ably supported by the suspension plate, an inclinedly positioned twin-wire memher also swingably supported by said suspension plate, means on the suspension plate for enabling the upper portion of said inclinedly positioned twin-wire members to impinge thetwin wires: of said vertically positioned twin-Wire member m= termediatethe ends thereof to releasably hold said vertically positioned suspension member against the'susp'ension' plate, a horizontally positioned connecting rod member having a loop formed at'itsi'nner end swingably engaging? the lower endof' said? vertically positioned twin-wire member and an open hoolriormed at itsouterend engaging the: lower end of said inclinedly'posh t-ioned twinewiresuspension member, therebyv to enable the suspension of garments from the connecting rod member, a relatively short yieldable tube member for the frictional and slidable engagement of said inclinedly positioned member, a substantially horeshoe shaped adjustable frame member slidably mounted on said tube member, means on said tube member for enabling the laterally slidable adjustment of said frame member to increase or diminish its Width to accommodate various sizes of headgear placed thereon.

4. An apparel holder of the type herein described, comprising in combination a formed suspension plate of substantially inverted channel formation, bearing means in said plate to swingably support a pair of suspension members, a vertically positioned twin-wire suspension member having elongated parallelly arranged wires joined in substantially U-shape at their lower ends and turned at right-angles inwardly at their upper ends to engage said bearing means on the suspension plate, an inclinedly positioned twin-wire suspension member having elongated parallelly arranged wires joined in substantially U-shape at their lower ends and turned at rightangles outwardly at their upper ends to engage said bearing means on the suspension plate, said bearing means so arranged and spaced as to cause the upper ends of the twin Wires of the inciinedly positioned suspension member to releasably inwardly impinge the twin wires of said vertically positioned suspension member intermediate the ends thereof to releasably hold said vertically positioned suspension member against the suspension plate, a horizontally posi tioned connecting rod member having a loop formed at its inner end, an insulating covering on said loop, said lo'op adapted for swingably engaging the lower end of said vertically positioned twin-Wire member and an open hook formed at the outer end or" the connecting rod member to engage the lower end of said inclinedly positioned twin-wire suspension member, a relatively short yieldable tube member for the frictional and slidable engagement of the twin wires of. the inclinedly positioned member, means on the tube member for slidably mounting a frame member, a substantially horeshoe-shaped laterally adjustable frame member slidably mounted on said tube member, means on said irame member for maintaining: it in position parallel with the inclinedly positioned suspension member on which it is mounted.

ARTHUR M. HARTLE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

